Colin Chase has been employed in various marketing capacities since 2000, while his Internet prowess dates back to the beginning of the World Wide Web in 1993. Chase has held positions in eCommerce, Online / Internet Marketing, Agency Marketing and Advertising, and Interactive Marketing. He has held titles such as: Director of eCommerce, eCommerce Manager, Director of Marketing, Project Manager, Marketing Film / Animation Producer and Director, and Lead Creative Agent.

Chase has seventeen (17) years of professional experience, with nearly 12 years being in management and director roles. Chase began his career as a Computer Technician and Network Administrator for a SUNY Community College from 1995 through 1999. In 2000 Chase went on to start his own marketing agency and firmly established himself in Online Marketing, Brand Marketing, and Interactive Marketing.

Chase was able to achieve a level of prominent success within interactive marketing from 2000 through the end of 2007 servicing niche Manufacturers before repositioning solely into eCommerce in 2008. For two years Chase guided the Online efforts of a mid-sized, family-run eRetail company in Buffalo, NY (best known for their website PoolSupplies.com). This company realized nearly 25% growth per year in the Internet Division that Chase managed, for the two years of Chase's employment at the height of the worst economic Recession since WWII. This growth came from within the Leisure Industry at a time when this industry was experiencing negative growth.

From 2010 through 2012 Chase directed the Online and Brand Marketing efforts of an emerging brand within the Snack Food industry that has become established in several retail chains across the US. The specific products marketed by Chase being primarily "Freeze-dried Fruit" which is categorized as a "Healthy Snack" and is a sub-set of the very large "Dried Fruit" market of Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG). Due to Chase's multi-channel approach he was able to grow online revenue for the primary brand (Brothers-All-Natural) by 60% in 2011 alone.

The Beginning

In 2005 Vesuvius Monofrax (now RHI Monofrax), a leading manufacturer of glass refractory equipment, contacted Colin Chase in regard to creating a memorable marketing piece. During the meeting with their sales and marketing staff a few ideas were floated around. One idea was to craft a live action video showcasing the manufacturing process, while another more artistic idea was to create an animated sequence highlighting a day in the life of a grain of sand as it is melted and transformed into a sheet of glass.

The Project Concept

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Chase concluded that the artistic concept would differentiate this client due to their major competitors all having live action videos of the manufacturing process already in distribution within the market space. During the company interviews Chase always asks various questions to help understand three (3) primary concepts: First, 1) what is the core business that we are seeking to promote or brand with this marketing project? Second, 2) what differentiates this company from its major competitors in this market space? And 3) what is the company expecting from this project, as in what is the expected outcome? Additional questions about the scope, time frame, and budget are also asked in subsequent discussions, but ensuring that Chase truly understands the market space, products and the business model up front is his primary objective for the first meeting.

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Chase argued that a 3D animation of this transformation process, the change of sand into glass, would be the most compelling for a number of reasons such as the entertainment factor, the intrigue factor, and the attention to real-life detail that could not be otherwise shown, as well as the expectation of 3D in the year 2005. No one has ever been able to effectively utilize video to showcase the melting process due to the extreme heat involved. Any video taken through the specialized viewing windows only shows a bright and glowing substance that the human eye has a hard time deciphering. Details of the refractory components while in use have never been properly seen. The melter (dog house) and refiner, working end, canal, and the lip spout are all viewed and even walked on before being used during the build process. However once the furnace is hooked up and sand begins to melt, human eyes cannot truly see what is happening. Well, that was until Chase and his team put together this 3D animation.

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The project was not without its problems either. Initially, the artists involved were having problems with the 3D models that were provided in a format they struggled to import, and then they didn't have the mathematic expertise to make some proper calculations. Chase had to stay on top of the communication stream almost as an interpreter between the engineers and his company's animation staff. Mid-stream the decision to switch from using the polygons of Studio Max 3D to utilizing the nurbs of Alias Maya was settled by Chase as this became the obvious best solution. So the investment for Maya was put forth and the results were well worth the money and efforts expended.

The Award-Worthy Concept

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When the lead engineer for the lip spout casing saw the finished animation, even though he had already seen aspects of it throughout the development process, emotion overwhelmed him. This engineer actually became emotional because after designing glass refractory equipment for 20-some years he had never seen the inside process before in such graphic detail. The animation was highly stylized, which added to the entertainment factor, but completely true to life according to their engineering team.

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Chase had to closely manage this project to bring it to a successful and award-winning completion, and in the process he made his development team bond a little closer. Chase co-authored the storyboard and the voice-over dialog with the marketing manager at Monofrax, making sure to include some of the specific factors that truly differentiated their company. The end result came in: And a Silver Telly Award was won at the 27th Annual Telly Awards. (To see this award listing follow this link and scroll down toward the bottom of the page for "Chase Information Systems - Monofrax" - http://www.tellyawards.com/winners/list/?l=C&event=7&category=1&award=S.)

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The Telly Award was big enough news to be carried as an NPR story on WBFO out of Buffalo, NY, which was a dream come true for Chase as an avid NPR listener. Additional media stories were also run in outlets as far away as Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio. Chase's hard work and determination paid off for his client once again. (To see the intro to the NPR story go here - http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wbfo/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=940172.)

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